“More fun than i thought it would be. shots are smooth and satisfying and some of the shots go places you wouldn't expect. Love the corkscrew ramp. Theme, artwork and sound package really don't add to the overall experience IMHO. I like the shots, though. It's all about the shots.”

“This game was just annoying and the the "party on dude" phrase just irritated me. The playfield was good and I had the best games with the sound on silent. Theme was not for me at all, didn't last a month in my collection”

“I owned this game for several months. I liked a lot of things about this machine. Given it’s date, it was hampered by the generally early and basic rules around this time, and this seems to hurt these early DMD games, as we often pit them against later, deeper DMD games in comparison.

For the year, the rules in PZ are pretty good I think. To most, this is a hit the left, ramp and work towards your extra balls, and then the right outer shot and load up the multiball. That’s the meat and potatoes for sure, but once you start to get close to having eat drink and b’merry, as well as the 1M pop bumpers ready, and have the entire 2x PF lit, many scoring aspects of this game become all of a sudden quite lucrative.

The negative aspects of this game are as follows: The ramps are beautiful, as most Nordman ramps are, but are very prone to breaking, and I’m not sure if replacements will ever be made. Take note of this especially if you are considering buying. The main head boards are in the same boat, and are very susceptible to all kinds of issues. The animations when loading up the main multiball (hmmm, the only MB…) get real annoying, really fast, and can’t be skipped. I would have liked to see more variance here to mix it up.

The center saucer shot was a design I’m surprised at the date of this machine they went with. This was just asking to be bent to hell and broken soon out of the box. Once this happens, it makes it almost impossible to make this saucer with a direct shot, as there is just too much power. There is also zero “real” flow shots in this machine. Having said that, the ramps both having vuks and hold the ball only momentarily when nothing is happening with those shots, and create a flow’ish shot, but have the ability to hold, and even hold two in the left during the big bang attempt.

As for the good, I gave this machine excellent for music, lighting and variation for both. The music is typical to the theme, and likely annoys some, but it changes to Purple Haze after you have scored the big bang, and you have the option to change songs with a good use of the center saucer for the party saver, and reinitializing the multiball. The lighting as well has the multiple GI strings being mixes in together, not just your usual front, rear, left and right, allowing for many flickering effects and with the use of one being all domed red llight bulbs, totally making the PF red at times. I don’t believe any other machine does this up to new Sterns, which on the LE machines, they have now started copying. Really neat original idea.

For the time, the layout is not bad. It has many typical shots, but lots to shoot for, if the rules were a bit more advanced. The lower right 45 degree shot is very cool and fun to hit. The call outs are funny too. If you are shooting the main ramp, and only partially make it up, you get a couple different responses.

Going for the Big Bang is flat out fun, and not super easy, and you really need to implore patience. Loading up the rocket fuel and then getting the left ramp twice is a lot harder than it seems with this 2 ball multi and no ball save, and thus this is rewarding, and the music and light explosion after is as well. Getting 1M pop bumpers is also very lucrative, and I found hard to get.

This would benefit from a revisit and additions to the rules, and someone reproducing the ramps. All in all as is, I think many would agree it’s a fun, whacky game, but one that isn’t staying forever.”

“Fun game. I think it is under rated. Tons of fun!! Not sure of all the shots to do yet. Music may get to you but one that would be a great filler game. The colors of the playfield are great. Seems solid. Party on Dude!!!”

“I wanted to like this game. Dr. Dude was a cool game, but this was just not nearly as original. Captain B. Zarr annoyed me, and felt like a cheap "Rudy." One of the ramps, the ball goes flying off of because it's built so poorly. And there just isn't enough to do on this game to keep me interested. I think it's a beautiful looking game, and certainly better than many other pins out there, but all in all, I found it to be kind of boring, and quite corny. If you dig corny, all the games in this "Party" series would be great additions (including this one) to your collection. If you're looking for a deep pin though that will keep you coming back for more, look elsewhere. One of the earliest DMDs out there.”

“This is a drastically under rated pin. It has a lot of action on it, the DJ moving head following the pinball at times is pretty unreal, talking robot, dancing crash dummy, lots of ramps and the spaceship engine lights are all very entertaining and different. Also picking your own music is a pretty neat option.”

“It was a nice pin to have. For the price, lots of things to do and shoot for. After a while the call outs got annoying and the pin got old to me. I found someone who wanted to trade for it with their WW. It's been a year since, I'm glad I traded it, however, my wife and kids like PZ better. Too bad they don't pay the bills around here. lol”

“This is a real fun game, esp for its time. Fast and fun with some cool shots to make. I always loved the scoring of this game. Meaning, if you scored 150 mill, that was a great game as opposed to some of the crazy scoring in machines today.

Anyway, the sounds in this are really cool for the time. Being able to choose a song with your flippers...AWESOME! Esp PB Wizard. How do you top that? We're talking '91 here!

A very bright and colorful game. DJ B-Zarr is cool with his voice, sayings, singing and following the ball head movement. You gotta give it up for that.

“Low volume machine in the UK....pity! My first pin. Played it in the 90's when it first came out in my local pub/bar. Was nice to finally track one down 20 years later and have it as my first pinball machine. Hopefully many more to come.”

When I first played "Party Zone" in the Pinball Wizard Arcade in Pelham, NH, I wasn't expecting much, but I was proven wrong. One of the reasons the game is so charming to me is the original theme. I love how it integrates all the characters from Dennis Nordman's previous machines into one cohesive theme. The one thing I don't like about it is the hilariously overbalanced scoring with 10x Playfield (100M payoff lane, anyone?). Still, if you ever find one on location, play it. "Pick a song, not your nose!"”

“The Good: One of the BEST early DMD games. This pin will keep you coming back for more. Not too complicated, but NOT easy for a beginner. Great ramps and game flow. I have one in my collections and it is staying there for a while.

The Bad: DJ kick out gets worn and is VERY visible.

The Ugly: Cabinets FADES so easily. Fortunately, there are decals available to restore it to it's original beauty. Plastic ramps are hard to find and cannot be easily flame polsihed.”